A woman flees for her life and is confronted by a terrifying apparition, in the latest 'Through the K hole'
The family were woken up in the middle of the night by the clarion call of an air raid siren, a theatrical dagger slicing through the purple curtain of sleep. They huddled together on the landing and were trying to make their way to the shelter outside when the first bomb hit. The earth opened up in front of them and fire spread its wings. With flame and fume they were roughly hoisted onto terror's cruel back.
Knowing that all was lost she picked up her youngest and plunged headlong down the stairwell, her hair singeing and her face and lips beginning to blister with the heat.
In the hallway, blocking her route out of the house was a figure. It wore a long grey trench-coat trimmed with fur which swept the floor and smouldered like kindling. Seemingly oblivious to the chaos it busily nailed thick strips of wood across the door. She called out to him, but as he turned she noticed that his hands held onto the dark symbols of fascism and its long birdlike face was a eusuchian canvas, devoid of humanity. It opened its hooked beak and screamed at her in a vicious, guttural German.
The GP banged on the door. He had been called out to number 35 again this week as the resident, an 82-year-old woman, had been found wandering by her neighbours and was seemingly in some distress.
He lifted the letterbox and could make out the old lady slumped on the floor, murmuring something about the Blitz and the bombings.
Despite her dementia, she wasn't on any anti-psychotic medication. She was a shining example of Department of Health guidelines at work. Her suffering and terrifying visions showed how easy it could be to save money.
Written in response to Copperfield's column: What if not antipsychotics? Dr Kevin Hinkley is a GP in Aberdeen.
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